CHAPTER 1

WOUNDED

What are wounds?Merriam-Webster defines it as:

“1a: an injury to the body (as from violence, accident, or surgery) that typically involves laceration or breaking of a membrane (such as the skin) and usually damage to underlying tissues

b: a cut or breach in a plant usually due to an external agent

2: a mental or emotional hurt or blow

3: something resembling a wound in appearance or effect especially: a rift in or blow to a political body or social group”1

Wounds are not just physical. They can be mental (of the mind); they can be emotional (of the heart); and they can be communal (within relationships). Yet, at the core of wounds is injury and subsequent damage, regardless of whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

Now that we have defined wounds, we have to ask a question: what wounds do you have? This is paramount to know, as the enemy knows your wounds (perhaps better than you even do) and he will use them to cause more pain. He doesn’t want you healed. He wants these wounds to remain open so he can prod them. He wants to make them a chain that he can tug at will, leading you toward destruction. Yet, there is hope.

To the world it is folly, but to those in Christ Jesus it is power (1 Corinthians 1:18). In Christ’s power, chains break and fall with a melody of freedom that resounds so violently that the gates of Hell shake. Why? Because a soldier of Christ, unhindered and unified with their Master and Savior, is a soldier that Hell is afraid of. Further, an army of such soldiers unified with Christ and with one another is an army whose marching shakes the very gates of Hell.

To be clear here, the enemy and his forces aren’t scared of you, or me, or us; they are scared of the One beside, behind, and in front of us. They are scared of the Spirit that resides in us. They are scared of faith that obeys ALL that God commands. They are scared of a pure and spotless bride (the intended state of the Church). They are scared of individuals and a collection of individuals that follow God fully, because those individuals take ground and tear down their strongholds in Jesus’ name while the enemy watches powerlessly.

Not sounding like a “fool’s hope” anymore, is it? Definitely not. However, the enemy is ultimately after hope. And he will use your wounds against you. What’s more is that our wounds, especially the emotional, mental, and spiritual, can become core wounds. Core wounds are wounds of heart, mind, and soul that drive us negatively (even though the world would say